Wando High School Doubles Up on South Carolina 4A Competition

By Brian Savard

ROCK HILL, South Carolina, October 18. SWIMMING World Magazine's coverage of the 2007-08 High School State Championships started in Rock Hill, S.C., with the 4A South Carolina Swimming Championships.

Team Results
Wando High School swept the men's meet as well as the women's meet. This marks the first time Wando has captured titles for both its men's and women's teams in the same season.

Wando's women's team scored an even 400 points en route to a state championship. Spring Valley placed second with 378 points while Mauldin took third (367).

The men's meet ended bittersweet for Mauldin, as it lost to Wando in the team standings by two points despite claiming gold in the final event of the meet – the 400 freestyle relay. Wando prevailed with 360 total points as the men's team champion, while Mauldin settled as the runner up with 358 points. Spartanburg rounded out the top three male teams with 259 points.

Women's Individual Results
Molly Stanton from Wando bested her competition in both of her individual events. Stanton dropped eight seconds off her seed time in the 200 IM, touching out Mauldin's Laura Simon by .31 (2:09.58) for first place. Stanton returned in the 100 backstroke, edging the competition for the second time with a 58.25 time.

Allie Voss of Spring Valley set the lone record of the meet on the women's side when she touched first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.71. Brittany Gobat of Fox Creek held the former standard of 1:06.76, which she set at the 2006 state meet.

Spring Valley took first in both the 200 medley relay (1:51.29) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:41.70).

Men's Individual Results
Justin Ashcraft from Nation Ford captured gold medals in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, and he took home a record in the 200 freestyle. Ashcraft crushed the 200 freestyle field, touching first in a record time of 1:42.47. Lee Groseclose of J.L. Mann set the former standard at last year's state championship in 1:44.36. Ashcraft nearly missed the 500 freestyle record, clocking a 4:38.21.

Stratford-standout Armin Hornikel blasted through the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, touching first in each. Hornikel claimed a 21.43 50 freestyle and set a South Carolina 4A record in the 100 breaststroke (57.99). The former record holder, Rick Hancock, swam a 58.13 back in 2002.

Drew Oberg from Spartanville rounded out the double-event winners, capturing state titles in the 200 IM (1:55.91) and the 100 backstroke (53.13).

Spartanburg's 200 medley relay continued where it left off after last year's state meet, lowering the 4A mark from 1:39.18 to 1:37.12.

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